Nut and screw fastening



R F vEm P R .C H S W N A Inventor.-

,Bierce v-f few M Original Filed July 22, 1925 4 sion. 7 The nut unit includes a nut 4 and a nut assembled at the point of holder is pressed from Reissued Oct. 20, 1 931 WALTER H. PIERCE, 01 SOUTH POLAND,

AINE, ssrenoa, BY

MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

.TO UNITED-CARR FASTENER CORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS NUT AND scanw FASTENING Original N0. 1,690,078, dated October 30, 1928, Serial No. 45,281, filed July 22, 1925. Application for reissue filed October 17, 1930 Figure 1 is a front elevation of the com- U plete installation;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, being partly in elevation;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view showmg the g nut unit secured to its support;

Fig. 4 is a section of the parts shown in Fig. 2 before the screw is engaged with the nut;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the nut unit; I

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the nut unit;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the nut; and

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 88 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown a plurality of parts secured together by the use of a nut unit initially secured to one part by the resiliency of one part of the unit and a screw passing through the other part and secured to the nut unit as more fully hereinafter described.

The nut unit illustrated in the drawings is particularly useful in connection with securing metal parts together especially when the inner face of the nut unit supporting part is inaccessible so that the usual nut could not so readily be used. The unit is very strong and durable and is therefore adapted for use for securing hinges of doors, locks, etc. to supporting parts such. as automobile bodles.

In the drawings the fastening elements are a shown in connection with securing two sheet metal parts together. The inner part 1 1s initially prepared for reception of the unit by forming a depression 2 therein having an aperture 3 through the bottom of the depresholder 5 preferably manufacture. The a single piece of metal and is provided with a relatively large base portion 6 adapted to fit into the depression 2 in the part 1. A plurality of fingers 7 are pressed from the base and extend outwardly therefrom to form a resilient head 8 and neck 9, the head being 5 somewhat larger in cross-sectional area than 'use at any time into the slits between Serial No. 489,467.

the aperture 3. The outer or free ends of the fingers arecurved inwardly from the head 8 thereby to form cam surfaces 8* for contact with the screw as hereinafter described. In assembling the nut unit the nut is placed between the fingers 7 and is held in assembly with the nut holder 5 by a plurality of ears 8 formed at the periphery of the base and bent back over the base to overlie the nut as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 6.

Sufficient space is provided between the nut and fingers (Fig. 8) to permit contraction thereof during entrance intoor withdrawal from the aperture 3 in the support 1.

From the above: description it will be understood'that it is only necessary to snap the head 8 of the unit through the aperture 3 to secure the unit to the support 1 (Fig. 4) sothat it cannot fall out of the aperture if the support is thereafter turned upon its side. This is a particularly necessary factor of the invention when the nut unit is secured to the support 1 at a time previous to the time when it is necessary to secure the part 10 to the part 1. The nut will always be ready for thereafter without requiring the use of a tool to hold it while the screw 11 is being engaged there-with.

The base portion 6 of the holder and the depression 2 are provided with rectangular peripheries which cooperate to prevent turning of the holder relative to the support 1 when the base 6 is located in the depression. Also the nut 4 presents lugs 12 which project the fingers 7 of the nut holder (Fig. 8) to prevent rotation of the nut relative to the holder. Thus, I have provided cooperating means for holding the parts of the nut umt against turning movement while the screw 11 is threaded into the nut 4.

During the operation of securing the parts 1 andlO together the end of the screw 11 passes through the nut and the tapered end 13 thereof engages the cam surfaces 8, which intersect the threaded'ho'le 14 in the nut 4. As the screwing together operation continues the screw enters between the cam surfaces 8 (Fig. 2) and bends or expands the fingers 7 outwardly, as shown in Fig. 2. The screw thereafter back supports the fingers so that 100 they cannot contract and separate from the support 1 while the parts 1 and 10 are secured together. V

l/Vhilel have shown and described a'preferred embodiment of my invention it will be understood that changes involving omission, substitution, alteration and reversal of parts and even changes in the mode of operation may be made without departing from the scope of the invention which is best defined in the following claims.

Claims: I 1. A nut and screw fastened installation comprising, in combination, a plurality of parts to be secured together, a nut unit pass ing into an aperture presented by one of said parts and extending beyond the inner face thereof, said nut unit including-an initial-V 1y assembled nut and nut-holder, the nut havin a screw-receiving aperture and the nut ho l der having a flange to prevent passage of the unit through the installation and said nut holder having a number of resilient fingers bent inwardly toward the axis of the unit at their free ends to intersect the screw-re ceiving aperture in the nut and a screw for passage through the aperture in the nut to engage said inbent resilient fingers, thereby to expand that portion of the nut unit extending beyond the inner face of the said apertured part and back-support said nutthreaded into engagement isae and secure the parts of the installation td gether. I

4. A nut and screw unit comprising, in combination, a nutholder havin a base, a boss of smaller diameterthan said base split to provide a plurality of yieldable fingers extendifig from said base, said fingers having inwar rounding an a erture through the said holder, a nut assem led with said holder and havingilan aperture therethrough surrounded b a t readed wall and a screw having a shan with the threaded wall of the nut and engaging the inwardly bent portions of said fingers and back-supporting them to prevent contraction thereof when the nut and screw unit isused to attach together suitable members. A

WALTER H. PIERCE.

ly bent portions at their free ends surholding part to prevent contraction thereof and secure said parts together.

2. A nut and screw fastened installation comprising, in combination, a plurality of parts to be secured together, a nut unit including a nut and an expansible nut holder presenting aplurality of resilient-,fingers snapped through an aperture in one of said parts prior to expansion of the nut holder thereby to hold the nut in assembled relation with said part and a screw for engagement with the nut to secure said parts together, said fingers having inwardly curved portions at their free ends overhanging a screw receiving hole in said nut so as to be engaged by said screw thereby to expand said fingers to'preven't separation of the nut holding part from its supporting part while said parts are secured together by said screw.

3. A nut and screw fastened installation ini 'cluding apertured supporting meansand a nut unit secured to said apertured means and having a nut holder and a nut initially assembled therewith, the nut having'a screw-- v receiving aperture and the nut holder having a number of resilient fingers having their free ends bent inwardly to intersect the screwreceiving aperture in the nut and a screw having a shank passing through the aperture int-he nut "and directly engaging said resilient fingers at their inwardly bent free ends thereby to expand and back-support said nut holding part to prevent contraction thereof 

